Do public schools have the authority to fine parents money for being late?

Question

My friend has a child in elementary school, and he goes to a public school. Apparently, at the end of the school day, if the parents are late picking up their kids, the school charges them $10/minute that they are late. So, if a parent gets caught in traffic and is 10 minutes late, that would be a $100 fine. And we live in Atlanta, Georgia where unexpected fluctuations in traffic can sometimes strand you for close to an hour or more. If that were to happen, and a parent were an hour late to pick up their kid, that would be $600! This sounded very dubious to me. Do public schools really have the legal standing to fine parents like this?

I found this question but I didn't see any reference to money/fines.

Thanks.

Answer 1

I found a number of news stories and official documents about public schools with such policies including:

• "Parents face more fines and rules if their children miss too much school" from Public Opinion;

• "School Adopts Strict Policy on Parents Picking Up Children Late" from the Los Angeles Times;

• "If you're late to pick up your kid at school, expect more than embarrassment" from The Oregonian;

• "Late Again? This School Fines Kids Who Aren't on Time" from Parents;

• "Late Pick Up Policy" from Hazelwood Elementary; and

• "School Issues Terrifying Threat to Parents Who Pick Up Kids Late" from Yahoo Parenting

The last story is about a school that threatened to call the local child protection authorities to take children into custody if parents were late, even by a short time. This was rescinded and apologized for.

None of these stories mentioned any source of authority to impose such fines, nor any parent who had legally contested such fines. Public schools do not generally have authority to fine parents unless a law or ordinance grants such authority. Usually a school would need to file a report with law enforcement, and any fine be imposed by a court. But it may well be that parents are simply paying in such cases, rather than insisting on legal authority. If a student is left unsupervised, a school would pretty clearly have the right, and in some cases the duty, to notify the police or the appropriate child protection agency. Parents might fear that resisting the fines would lead to that far more drastic response, and so not challenge any fine.

I did not include any of several news stories about similar practices in the UK, as the legal basis would be different there. But there were several such stories.

There were also several stories suggesting that such fines can be counterproductive. It seems that some parents tend to come to regard them as fees, and are perfectly willing to pay, and the fine replaces the feeling of social obligation which might have been stronger. But that is not really a matter of law.